Crowning Glory
by 00Blight
Summary: Namimori appears to be a tranquil, mundane little town, but the peace behind the picturesque facade is a carefully orchestrated front. The mission had always been simple: keep Namimori quiet, keep Namimori safe. And it had all been so easy until the Vongola itself got involved. [twin!OC-insert; canon alterations; 10th gen. Rating will change]
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

Like many of the OC/SI fics out there, this fic's major plot-line will involve Tsuna and gang's adventures. However, the main characters for this story is the Taguchi family, a fictional family of informants residing in Namimori before the canon plot started. I've always wondered about the dire lack of supporting characters in the story even though they were implied to keep things covered up, so I decided to write them into the fic as main characters instead.  
The main focus will be on the Taguchi family's youngest, a pair of twins. I don't have any ideas about shipping or how exactly they'll be involved for now so if anyone has suggestions I'm all ears. For now, please enjoy the build up chapters before we get into the meat. I'm new to ffnet so you _miiight_ see some versions of this fic popping up with weird codes and looking butchered.

* * *

 **Chapter 01. Before the Then**

It's just a little past midnight, later than any of them has the need to be awake still, but they are all awake. And most importantly, they're all still here. However dozy, between the warmth of skin-to-skin contact that always feels like something they should know from childhood memories or dreams, to the thick, viscous lull of sleepy sighs, everything was still at such a lukewarm intensity that none of them could fall asleep to just yet.

So they talk.

They talk with faux-laxness that's as chalky as their desperate attempts to make the night last longer, and carefully avoid any topics involving the future, because the future is the journey into the stars with a compass lacking its needle. Because the future is carpet sodden with _red_ and it's never clear enough just _what kind of red_ it is. And because, time goes away forever when it departs. Though the world is a circle, a ship that left a port never returns the same.

So they talk about their past. As always, Takeshi starts them off with silly stories about his time bussing at his father's sushi restaurant, about the one time he stole a coin from his father's change jar at the shop because he had wanted a snack beyond his allowance, and somehow he felt ashamed that he wanted a snack when his father feeds him his love and his cooking daily. Not to be outed, Hayato wasted no time in launching into stories about the times he was a solo hitman for hire, about the missions he had been on, until a quiet -nearly asleep- Lambo points out that he's not really supposed to be talking about past clients. Confidentiality issues, the younger assassin burbles, before a snort bubble appeared from his nose and he starts snoring like his namesake. A moment of silence falls over them. There is no way they would get to hear the others' stories until _absolutely_ everyone has gone first, so they turn to Aki.

Aki, who is nestled comfortably between someone's knee and an overstuffed cushion, blinks and tugged at her messy curls. "There's not much to talk about. Our childhood's pretty plain," she intones, which earned her a disbelieving snort from the silver haired boy whose face is temptingly close to her right foot. "There is no way your childhood was 'plain', you Amazonian," he scoffed, shaking his head. "Tell us about your family or something. You guys are informants. That's got to be a story in itself."

"Only if you want to, Aki," Tsuna quickly amended, because he's Tsuna.

* * *

The Taguchi family has a long history, spawning from a now-extinct clan of men and women that wielded blades just as mighty as their pens. History is something that bleeds into the very fabric of a family's tree, and it bleeds into every member's genes. And like any family with a history marked in their blood, the past glory always comes in the form of shackles for the future. Since the early 1800's, the Taguchi have been headed by men bearing names of warriors, and they have always dealt with information. Information is the lifeblood of any society, like a good immune system, good informant families like the Taguchi would know exactly which seed of misinformation they need to weed out so they can sift in only the important things. The vital information. The line between fame and disparity, between life and death. Informants never truly exist only in the underworld. They're the gateway, the lining in between realms, and any informants not worth their salt would not die to have a gravestone with their name on it.

Given all of that, Taguchi Katamori finds it extraordinary- no, _miraculous_ \- that the world would bless him with his bride, his own darling Miwa, that is willing to weather the good and the bad (the so very bad) with him.

Katamori shifts his gait just a little, just enough to glance to his left to see his to-be-wife's face as they walked down the stone-trodden path to the shrine. As always, Miwa is a vision of her own rights, even veiled as she is under the ceremonial cotton cap, Katamori has no trouble imagining her expression amidst the sweet autumn leaves. They met in Tokyo, where Miwa was studying for a degree in Art History, and it had been one of the more embarrassing moments of Katamori's career. He supposed that there are always worse ways to meet your future wife, but tumbling out of her best friend's suitcase in desperate need to be smuggled to Hakodata wouldn't be that high up the preferred list either. At least it makes for a great story. Too bad only their family members can actually hear the original version.

Despite the serene, almost mystical somberness of their journey to to the open shrine gates, Katamori couldn't help but chuckle lightly to himself.

* * *

She could practically feel the quiet laughter building in him before it came out, and before she can acknowledge the change, her stiff showcase of a smile softens. For all she knows, Katamori could be laughing at how she resembles a large grain of rice in her wedding kimono and cap, but she largely doubts it.

"Ready?" Miwa asks, and in less than half-an-hour she will cease to be a Sakai. She is ready, like always, she was born to be ready. But as always, she will wait until he is too.

Growing up, Miwa Sakai knew to not make any close friends unless she has to. Her family never stops in one place for long, and even when they do, they kept a habit of having a packed bag waiting by the back door just in case. By twelve, she knew how to make fifty-something types of fraudulent documents so authentic looking even machines can't crack them. She could easily pass a polygraph test even under the influence, and she has already successfully conned her first small fortune with her wits alone. Her family are criminals. Or rather, they would be criminals if they aren't so good at what they do. That's what her father always said, bragged, even. ' _Criminals are the fishes that get caught by the heron, Miwa,_ ' he would say, his voice always carrying a gruff quality to it as the surface of his drink shimmer in the dim light . ' _Us? We're just the crayfish and snails that slither around in the mud. If we're real careful, we can live forever._ '

But she didn't really want to stay in the mud of the pond. That's not life for an ambitious young girl in her teens. There is a bigger world out there, a world that she wouldn't -couldn't- experience if she was a Sakai. That was what Miwa thought when she left home for Tokyo University; that was where she learned that the past isn't something she can just wipe clean.

And looking at her almost-husband now, _alive_ and smiling that smile that seems to sizzle the air around him, she doesn't regret knowing how to smuggle human beings and various other things out of the bay. It helps him, and he helps her live the life she has always wanted. In terms of negotiating life itself, Miwa thinks she has a very sweet deal.

He turns to her just as they stepped foot into the threshold of the shrine building. Even now, his smile is a thunderclap amidst the rain. She has to try hard not to smile too widely now.

"Yes."

* * *

They both decided to move away from the Taguchi ancestral lands, where it's just too easy for them to be located. Miwa seeks a stable home life she couldn't have as a child, and Katamori is not willing to bring her into unnecessary dangers if he could help it. Both of their goals could be achieved if they moved away, and after extracting a verbal promise that they'll visit at least once a year, Katamori's parents finally let them go.

' _Be careful,_ ' Asami pled, watching her husband and son finish unpacking the last of the boxes. Yesterday's setup had finished much faster, but then she supposed that's to be expected with all her four boys working together instead of just one ( _her husband can insist all he wants, but Asami knows he's really more hindrance than help when it comes to moving heavy things_ ). They're due for the train home this afternoon, and the car has been ready since morning. Her little Kata is all grown up now, wanting to start up a bookstore just like his own grandad had. It brings a tear to her eyes, but oh, she knows the unsavory types that can sometimes show up at her husband's places of 'work'. It worries her to have her son's family where she can't help. She knows that he knows, but Katamori has been an unshakable mountain ever since the bulge on Miwa's belly started showing itself.

Her youngest son smiled at her, and it reminds her so much of her own brother before he left home. ' _Don't worry, ma,_ ' Katamori reassures her smoothly, swiftly. ' _You know me and Miwa, we like our lives a bit boring._ '

He turns his soft gaze to the general area of the car. ' _Besides, quiet is good, for family._ '

* * *

The Taguchi were twins were born at the very end of Summer, when the humidity was finally showing signs of retreating, and sometimes you actually need to bring a light jacket when you go out at night.

For all his time as someone that deals with information, Katamori has never felt so unsure about what to do as when the information of his wife going into labor was delivered unto him. Not through his usual channels of information, gods no, but through the mouth of an overly-excited Watanabe-san who had apparently bolting down the street from his veggie stand straight to Taguchi Bookstore the moment his own wife told him the news.

"Taguchi! Your wife is in labor, come _on_!" he all but shouted into the small bookstore, the volume of his boom nearly shaking down some piles of used books, and it certainly shook Katamori himself out of his momentary stupor. Racing to close up shop, barely checking if he remembered to turn off the lights in the back room before he's running straight for Namimori hospital. In retrospect, calling a cab would've been a bit more efficient, but Katamori is not a very efficient man when his thoughts are full of nothing but his wife and his family.

His new family- his-

* * *

 _Twins_.

Miwa almost cried on the delivery table when the doctor announced that there are two babies. Well, for one, that sure means the pain wasn't ending any time soon, and for two, twins!

* * *

A girl and a boy. One of each for them to hold and love.

Katamori has had his suspicions over the months, but both of them agreed that a surprise would be just fine with them. Still, the month before the expected delivery had the couple -mostly Katamori- making rounds around town to bring enough supplies home _just in case_. When her husband reaches over to hold her hand, she smiles and allows him the moment of 'told you it's better to be prepared' instead of laughing at how panicked his pale face had looked when he arrived to the hospital nearly half a day ago. They held hands in the blinding brightness of the maternity ward, exhausted, and entirely unable to stop smiling at each other.

The nurses brought the two white bundles over shortly after. They were squishy and red looking, wrinkled in a way that looked like they had muscles in the wrong places at the wrong sizes, but to the couple, that might be one of the most beautiful sights they have seen.

Katamori held onto the girl, the firstborn, while the nurse helped Miwa sit up so she can hold her son. Miwa was unsure how to hold her children. Parenting classes she and Katamori signed up for taught them how to hang onto one tiny, frail life, but _two_?

She hid her tears when she heard her husband speak up. "Hideaki and Mitsuhide, then?" he asked. He _always_ asked her, and he always waited for her as much as she waited for him. Katamori's family has a tradition of naming their children after warriors, samurais, those that lived by the blade. Though it had seemed a little out-of-place given the family 'trade', Miwa loves the idea of family traditions. She never had anything like that growing up, and so she had readily agreed to Katamori's request when she was only two months into her pregnancy.

"Aki and Mitsu," she agreed with a small smile, gently nudging her son's soft -so soft it felt almost fake- hand with one finger. They had discussed the names before, what they would name their children if it turns out to be a boy, or a girl, or twins. Her own mother had wanted something more traditionally feminine than 'Hideaki' if it's a girl, and it was a long while of debating the writing of the name that they finally agreed. But Miwa will always know the origin of their names. They are the lights to hers and Katamori's lives. Even if it looks different on paper, that's the secret she will hold onto. Katamori flashed her a secretive smile like he knew what she was thinking while adjusting her baby girl against her other side tenderly, and she felt her insides melt a bit. Maybe it's the hormones. She did just give birth to twins.

"Welcome home," she mumbled, and didn't let herself feel embarrassed about how cliche and sentimental that was at all even as the nurse took pictures for them.

* * *

Namimori is a small town. Some might even call it dull, but it's in its mundanity that secrets and deals are hidden. Since they set up 'shop' in Namimori as its local informant, the Taguchi learned that the little suburban town they have moved into is even more than it seemed. It's no wonder Nobutora -Katamori's father- had so insisted on the town when his son mentioned that he wanted to start his new family in a place that's safer than most. Namimori has a long history with various sectors of the underworld, dating all the way back to the founding of the little township. For some reason, Namimori has always been protected by various unrelated, but entirely continuous lines of families. Away from the strife of the underworld, away from danger. Namimori has always been just a boring little town with 'nothing special'. Or that's the image the Taguchi family will now be supporting too.

The first week they moved in, the couple had been formally visited by Namimori's very own guardian angel. It's better to say the _Lord_ _of Namimori_ , really, if anyone asks Katamori. Fortunately, no one ever knew about the little visit Mayor Hibari had paid the new residents. The branches of Hibari family have been protecting Namimori for several generations, and Kazuo Hibari had just been there to make the routine visit to make sure his newest residents weren't going to bring trouble.

That had been a very dramatic experience, and for a week afterwards Miwa would not stop lamenting about how they didn't have better tea to serve the mayor, because they had just moved in and didn't really unpack yet. ( _Then two more future visits later, after the twins were born, Miwa finally learned that the quality of tea has nothing to do with the attitude of the town's young mayor. Some things are just personality._ )

The Taguchi couple had been pretty sure that nothing more dramatic than a _Hibari visitation_ would happen again, not in a town like this, until one year after their twins were welcome into the world and their second summer in Namimori was just starting to come to an end.

* * *

A worrying coded message had arrived for Katamori in his daily shipment of _Namimori Times_ that morning, sending a shiver of unease down his spine, and a rare sharpening of light brown eyes as the man swiftly took the delivery into the shop and changed the shop sign to 'open'.

By lunchtime, the reports were streaming in at alarming frequency, and Katamori asked his wife -who came to deliver his lunch with the twins in tow- to stay with him in the shop. He will close shop early today. Miwa is no fool, and judging from how quickly she moved around the shop to make sure all the windows are latched proved that she too, had observed something amiss with the town. The couple ate lunch in relative quiet, listening only to the disguised frequency on the radio while the twins babbled at each other cheerfully.

Katamori smiled at his children. They will turn one in a week, and Aki is already showing a worrying interest in escaping any and all baby-proofed confines they restrict them in. He was pretty sure he heard Mitsu say 'toto-' the other day, but besides the adorable smile his son gives him daily, he hadn't heard it again. His children are his joys, and his wife- his beautiful Miwa, he would _not_ let them be in danger's way.

The storm hit the Taguchi house just shy of dinner time, or at least, the metaphorical storm did. The twins need to eat every few hours and in turn, the household's dining schedule had adjusted accordingly. Miwa was in the kitchen making some sort of stew when the doorbell rang. The house went quiet as if on cue. Even the kids looked up and grew attentive, or at least as attentive as 12 months old babies can be. Feeling a sense of dread pool in the pit of his stomach, Katamori carefully slipped a harmless looking letter opener into his trouser pocket before going to open the front door. The intercom certainly wasn't telling him he's got the neighborhood circular.

 _Or not._

The first time Katamori Taguchi met Iemitsu Sawada, the informant realized a few things all at once. 1.) There is no doubt about it, the Young Lion of Vongola being ranked as one of the strongest members of the strongest underworld empires is no bluff. Even in his civilian wear, the way he carried himself marked him as a formidable opponent not just in physical combat, but also in diplomatics. Within a second of opening the front door, Katamori knew that not know did Iemitsu know that he is armed, he is also not fazed by it _in the slightest_.

The blond man at the door, appearing massive compared to the slender, almost bookish man that had greeted him, only smiled a friendly -dare Katamori say, neighborly?- sort of grin that showed the majority of his teeth, before lifting the bright yellow neighborhood circular for their block in front of him.

"Hey there neighbor! We're the Sawadas just down the block, I'm sure my wife will come tomorrow but she's exhausted from the move. The Itos from next door said you would be the next house in the circular, so I figured I'd come and get your fax number now and say hello." All of this was said in one breath, and Iemitsu Sawada's smile matched that of the happy sun picture on the circular flyer.

2) The information stream was properly decoded: The Sawadas are moving into Namimori. The Young Lion of Vongola, the head of CEDEF himself, has a civilian family.

They exchanged pleasantries and a strong handshake that threw Katamori off a little before he reminded himself, _foreigners_. If this was just a simple delivery of the community circular there was no reason for Sawada to enter the house, and both men knew it, and Katamori took the fact that the blond man entered his house without a concealed weapon both as a worrisome display of his confidence, but also a sign of goodwill. Of _trust_. Trust is important when bartering any long-term relationship with an information source, and Katamori assumed that's what Iemitsu must be here for. He dreaded what it entails.

Miwa, bless her beautiful soul, was a perfect facade of politeness mixed with a pinch of disarming airheaded chatter when she welcomed their guest. She showed Iemitsu to his seat and introduced their children in all the ways the gave nothing away at all. If Iemitsu was a lesser man, he would not even have noticed distance she had put between him and their twins, or the unnecessarily high number of available kitchen knives within her reach while she poured him some tea. The good stuff Asami had sent as for o-chugen.

"No need to be tense, Taguchi-san, Miwa-san," Iemitsu smiled, a sort of confidence that bled sincerity as he took the drink of tea without so much as batting an eyelash. "I'm sure someone like you already _knew_ I was coming." And what was there to deny? Katamori nodded gingerly, channeling as much of his wife as he could so he would look less stiff, less constipated.

He slid a look at his twins, before taking a seat at the chair that would block Iemitsu's line of sight. "I'm not sure what you know, but my family isn't like my _father's_ ," he explained carefully, because words are dangerous, in open deals or not. "We're not a hub, we don't do our trade with active lines like he does," he sighed, nearly wincing at the blatant cowardice in his phrasing, but Miwa's steadfast smile powers him on. "Miwa and I are involved, but our children are not. We have no plans to become your information source if that's what you have in mind for us," he began, finding his second wind as resolution cements in his clear gaze. Steely brown meets brown, and Katamori continued. "And while assumptions are not the basis of my work, I have a strong feeling that you _too_ , intend to do the same with your family, Sawada-san."

Katamori held his breath, and fervently held onto his father's teachings. ' _Call for that internal spring of steel, son. Pull it in tight and keep it like that. We'll spring the trap from the grass if we need to, but not a second before that._ ' His core is his family, and he hoped- no, speculated (no, _prayed_ ) that the man sitting in front of him is no different.

Seconds feels like hours in the mouth of a lion, and if the Taguchi didn't train their sons and daughters so well, Katamori would not have lasted this long. But he did, and Iemitsu eventually laughed after a moment. It wasn't a jeering laugh, but the sort of laugh someone might have while trying to placate a startled herd of particularly agitated elephants. "You are correct in your assumptions, Taguchi-san. And please, call me Iemitsu. We're going to be neighbors after all." Without receiving any acknowledgement, Iemitsu had to go on. "I am not asking your line as the boss of CEDEF so much as my child's father. My wife is due in October and while I cannot promise you that the information I may request in the future will have absolutely nothing to do with Vongola, please understand that my intention will ever only be to keep that particular side of my career _away_ from Namimori." ' _From my family,_ ' He doesn't say, but the Taguchi couple heard it just fine.

Miwa left the table to fret over the twins, and that was enough of a message for Katamori. They have known each other for what felt like lifetimes, after all. He can read her as certainly as she can read people, and Miwa's judgement has yet to be proven wrong. "I understand your intentions, now tell me what is it _exactly_ you want from us?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Introducing the baby versions of some of our lovable canon characters. Not everyone will be introduced in this stage of the story, but meetings are implied so there's more left to the imagination (and more plot holes to crawl through in future chapters).

* * *

 **Ch 02. Before the Now**

Somewhere along the lines, Nana Sawada got it in her head that her lovely neighbor Taguchi-san used to work with her husband. The origin of that misunderstanding must've stemmed from the first few months of Tsunayoshi Sawada's birth, when her enthusiastic husband busily made sure she was settled into their new town with some proper _friends_ if anything were to go wrong.

"The Taguchis are good people, Nana," he promised her, the night before he has to leave for work again. "I'm sure you'll be in good hands if you are unfamiliar with the town. You and Miwa-san can be wife-friends." He laughed, and Nana laughed too.

Iemitsu is working hard climbing the corporate ladder of his foreign oil trade company, or was it some sort of construction company? Nana keeps getting them mixed up, but that's not important, not really. She knows that Iemitsu's jobs has all sorts of secrets, and she'd imagine that since oil is such a valuable asset oversea, it's only a matter-of-course that Iemitsu can't tell outsiders much about his super important work. But she trusts Iemitsu, and if Iemitsu trusts the Taguchis, then she will too.

While she doesn't want to be rude Nana really can't imagine Taguchi-san as a construction worker just from looking at his build. Maybe he worked the finance office or something, that would suit him for sure.

* * *

The twins' earliest memory involving Tsuna had not been any earlier than when Tsuna turned three, though their families' family album proved they have been meeting ever since their mothers joined the local Baking Mama Club that is hosted at the community center's kitchen every second Saturday of the month.

One distressingly embarrassing picture that's forever hidden deep inside Mitsu's secret folder of 'Things to _Never_ See the Light' had the three of them, still infants, dressed up like bread rolls and pastries during one of their mothers' fundraising bake sales.

At the age of four, Hideaki and Mitsuhide were well known amongst the community shopping district. Twins were not common in a town as small as Namimori, and the endearing sight of small twins in matching outfits running the 'daily errand' of delivering Katamori's lunch easily won over the townspeople. Aki was known to be the bright, active child that will literally get herself into everywhere -and _everything-_ she can given the chance. Mitsu was the polite, sweet boy that followed his sister all the way. The two are virtually never seen without the other.

Sometimes, one Tsu-kun could be seen trailing behind the twins whenever his mother needed to go somewhere and saddled her son with the Taguchi for safekeeping, but most of the times, the mothers would be present if the children are caught outdoor. Namimori is safe, but cars still existed.

* * *

The twins' normal daily lives drastically changed one early spring when they were five. It marked the first major incident that rippled the tentative friendship between young children form based on frequent meetings. The twins didn't hang out with Tsuna nearly as much after that spring. To this day, Aki distinctly remembers how it started.

The three of them had been on another one of their grand daily adventures, as children tended to. Fueled by only their child-like imagination and way too many books that Miwa would read to them for story time, Aki-chan the totally awesome superhero had been on one of her usual journeys to defeat one of the three demon lords in the area. She was backed by her trusty hero companions Mitsu the cool _shadow_ ninja, and Tsu-kun the robot cop. There was nothing that could stop them, _nothing_.

It was a tale of epic proportions, and epic side-tracking. By the time they actually got to the dreaded castle of the _Great Drooling Demons_ , Kamori-jii's house, the sky was starting to glow orange.

Determined to not end their day on a cliffhanger, Aki had valiantly declared her brilliant tactic.

 _Divide and Conquer_.

It's a cool phrase she learned from her mother's most recent bedtime reading, and it's her favorite phrase right now. Last week, it had been _clutch-time special sale_.

"We'll go in from different places into the demons' courtyard-" She meant they'll go into the garden through the different gates, "- and we'll defeat the _Great Drooling Demons_ with Mitsu's special- special-"

"-poisoned bait," Mitsu finished, nodding extremely seriously. He's a very cool _shadow_ ninja, nothing about him isn't serious and cool. "Special ninja recipe," he promised, holding the perfectly normal and poison-free doggy treats that their father had given him this morning, knowing that they're going to go visit Kamori-jii's dogs again for their little games. The dogs are very friendly as long as they're fed, and they weren't known to bite, not even grabby children.

Tsuna didn't really want to separate, but he is an invincible robot cop right now and he understands that the mission is _very_ important. He's got to tough it out and defeat the demon lord with his friends, so he didn't complain.

The children shared one last serious look between each other, before nodding in synch like they do in action movies and dispersing for their mission.

Then of course, with all the attention-span of any average young child, Aki immediately got side-tracked again by something more interesting.

* * *

"I still can't _believe_ you two left me like that," Tsuna complains, for possibly the 50th time since he has heard this story so many times before.

"Sorry, Tsuna," Mitsu replied, soft smile and polite sincerity as usual, the same time Aki rolled her eyes and just laughed. "No one _asked_ you to go be a klutz, Tsuna."

* * *

Instead of meeting Tsuna in Kamori-jii's garden, Aki spotted _someone_ more interesting than Rui or the ten or so other dogs that lived on the Kamori compound.

She spotted her father, walking tensely with another man she doesn't recognize, down the nearby alley.

So Aki followed her father.

* * *

Mitsu had entered the Kamori compound from the front door, because even though he's a totally secretive _shadow_ ninja, he was also hungry. Kamori-jii always had cookies and snacks waiting for them whenever they visited. Plus, in their little adventure, Kamori-jii was like the wise old man that helps the heroes with food and special items and stuff. Mitsu wasn't flaking, he was being _efficient_.

That's Mitsu's favorite word.

It was when he was just about to greet Kamori-jii ( _because mom always lectured them about the advantages of good manners_ ), who was rising from his seat on the front porch, when everything happened all at once:

He heard Aki scream just beyond the garden wall, in the small alley between the two blocks where the Kamori compound borders.

Mitsu bolted as fast as his little legs could carry him. Kamori-jii ran with him out of the house, accidentally leaving the back garden gates open for the dogs to run out as well to investigate.

They found his father and Aki just behind the house.

His father, holding onto a terrified Aki, with a man who was slumped in an odd position on the ground.

Disregarding the oddity of the situation, Mitsu flung his small body at his scared twin's. Aki needed him then, and they held onto each other like coiled steel.

Kamori-jii looked at his father steadily, and his father made a face Mitsu has never seen before. It was a hard sort of face, like their father's face was made of stone instead of skin and flesh, hard and strong just like the hands he clasped around his and Aki's shoulders. His father was not shaking, but Mitsu and Aki were.

"Would you call Hibari-sama for us, Kamori-san?"

* * *

In the other side of the house, a young Tsuna had accidentally stepped on Rui's tail in a panic. The dogs were swarming the small human for treats but Tsuna didn't have any. Mitsu was supposed to give the treats!

With a few angry dogs hot on his tail, Tsuna ran all the way home screaming about _Great Drooling Demons_.

Tsuna never did quite get over his fear of dogs in the years proceeding.

* * *

The twins were quite shaken from the events of that one faithful day, and five-years-old had been almost too young for them to understand their parents' work in Namimori.

The operative word here is ' _almost'_.

Miwa had seen her father dispose of an unwanted company at about that same age, maybe younger, and unlike Katamori, she was unwilling to let her children be ignorant. She may tell them mystical, fantastical bedtime stories, but some realities should not be misconceived as fiction. That's something Miwa stands firmly for. She will teach them, and she will convince Katamori to as well.

"Ignorance isn't the same as _safe_ , Katamori," she breathed fiercely, under the dimply lit kitchen lights after the children fell to fitful sleep, and that had been that.

* * *

The twins were brought to the Hibari estate later in the week, after a whole week of staying holed up in the house and refusing to leave without at least one parent with them. It was fortunate that they have yet to start elementary school, but that sort of attitude was not going to fly with Miwa.

So after a few crisp phone calls with the town's strongest protector, the twins were bundled up into the family car in matching sea otter hoodies. Their mother probably could've bothered to make her twins look less 'weak', but she didn't want to.

A short drive into the edge of town, and the twins found themselves in front of a traditional Japanese home that reminded them of some of their mother's stories. They naturally forgot that they were supposed to be extremely cautious in the outside world and reverted instantly back to their adventurous selves.

"Look mom! It's a castle!" Aki shouted, already pointing at anything and everything.  
"Mom, where do we put our shoes?" Mitsu inquired, holding onto his shoes already even though all they did was cross the threshold into the estate's entrance.

They weren't even indoor yet.

"Children," Miwa warned. There was no hint of anything on her face. Her smile is beatific and serene as always, but the children knew instantly to shush themselves. Aki unnecessarily covered Mitsu's mouth as well since both of his little hands were holding onto dirty shoes.

Pleased with the immediate, trained response, Miwa continued. "We are here to visit our Mayor, Aki-chan, Mitsu-kun," she explained patiently, in her storytelling voice. "Now I understand you two were quite surprised to see daddy at work-"

The children fidgeted.

"- and your daddy and I have brought you here so you can understand how Namimori works better." There was a pause, and Miwa amended. "How _we_ work."

Tentatively, Mitsu nodded, and removed Aki's hand from his mouth first before doing the same to the hand she had cupped over her own mouth. "Okay, mom," he agreed, and Aki nodded in mirror motion of her twin. The children don't really understand yet, but the recognized the _voice_. That was their mother's working voice. That voice meant they were to always keep their eyes open and ears attentive, but look as cute as they can while mother did _her thing_.

Maybe now they'll finally know what exactly is _the thing_ that mom and dad whisper about in the evening, when they thought Aki and Mitsu are napping or drawing on their own.

* * *

Midwinter eyes narrowed slightly from where their owner was hiding. No, not _hiding_. Observing. Grey eyes squinted in a scowl as the young boy removed himself slowly from his observation point in the bushes and made sure he has not a single piece of leaf on his person. That would make him look ridiculous. Predators don't look ridiculous.

Predators also don't hide. He wasn't hiding. He is a Hibari, and there are unknown visitors in his father's territory.

Because even though he was so young, Kyoya wasn't naive enough to believe that the territory of Namimori was anything _but_ his father's. He also wasn't so foolish to think that he was strong enough to challenge his father for the position of apex predator here. Not yet, not for a long shot, but his mother did always teach him to be patient.

His father, he taught him to observe and classify any unknowns by their level of threat.

And the mother of the cubs- she is not an ordinary herbivore.

Kyoya must investigate, he will confront the woman and make her reveal her claws, even though on some level he understood that it might not be the best approach to challenge a _mother_ (herbivore or carnivore, mothers in the animal kingdom will always be a category of their own).

Aki had noticed the boy-thing stalking out of the bushes like he belonged in the greens before Mitsu did, but soon both twins were blatantly staring as the black haired boy walked towards their mother. There are plenty of kids around in Namimori to play with, and Aki had always been pretty good at reading other children's intentions. And this boy wasn't _not_ a friendly boy.

He was not friendly… towards _mom_.

She narrowed her own eyes, and the hardening look spawned from newly planted insecurity about the world and a desperate need to protect her own transferred immediately into the eyes of her brother, and as one, the twins took a step towards the boy (in front of Miwa) with tense unease.

"Taguchi."

The tension snapped apart as all movement stopped involuntarily on the front porch. Katamori stepped around the bend of the entrance gates, pocketing his car keys, just as an imposing man with hair as dark as the night stepped out from the front entrance of the house.

And it was as though everything the children were feeling had been wiped away. Overshadowed by the simple intensity of the stranger -the important Mayor-man that mom wanted them to meet- as he stepped out of the house. The movement had been so minimal. Just the sliding open of the door and the barest flash of bared hands before they retreated into the sleeves of his haori coat. Surely the flimsy wood and paper of the front door couldn't have masked the man's dangerous aura so entirely. Surely.

"Hibari-sama," their father greeted back, resting a gentle hand at the back of his wife's back as he guided his little family forwards to the house. "Thank you for taking your time today," he added, and left the ' _for my children_ ' unsaid. He did not need to make it seem like Kazuo Hibari has a soft spot for children.

Miwa is never wrong though.

"You may enter," Kazuo allowed, his voice a flatline mixture of firm order and apathy. As the group of visitors started to enter the house, Kazuo paused and turned to address his son. "Kyoya, you too. Follow," he ordered, in no lesser words, to basically herd the entire group all together into a tasteful guest room shortly upon entering the estate.

The interior of the house was just as traditional as the exterior, and despite their usual tendency of running around to explore any new place, the twins stay faithfully by their parents' sides. They were also glaring at the unfriendly boy now identified as 'Kyoya'.

If anything, it just seems to have made the boy even more _unfriendly_.

It took only small work before everyone were seated comfortably around the guest room, lined neatly with the exact number of floor cushions for the number of people that entered. Kazuo gestured for his son to sit with the children, just a little closer to the center of the room than the parents, before bringing over something that looked like a cloth map.

He laid the map of Namimori on the tatami floor. It was exactly the size of two mats.

"I," he began, straightening slightly from where he's kneeling formally on his seat, shoulders back and head held high in a way that made the Taguchi twins sit straighter unconsciously as well. "I am Kazuo Hibari. I am the Mayor of Namimori," he self-introduced, before inclining his head just a fraction towards his son, who is sitting stiffly in his own seat cushion at the other end of the map, refusing to look curious or confused about the whole situation. "This is my son, Kyoya."

Still, the children know their manner, and they bowed discerningly at each other. Mitu's sea otter hood flopped off.

"This is Namimori," he then moved on, gesturing at the outline of the town on the map.  
"Namimori is an old town, and it has been protected by us Hibaris for a very long time." The speech is practiced, like Kazuo must've given it a hundred times before. Either Kyoya had heard this many, many times in the past, or Kazuo is more concerned about talking to young children than he lets on. Only Miwa noticed this. "However, there are many bad people in the world. Vile, useless scums that only seeks to feed off the life force of society. Weak herbivores that tries to usurp the balance of the kingdom and take more than they deserve, more than they can handle."

Kyoya nodded, inconspicuously to himself. He has indeed heard this speech before, and he strongly agrees with his father. Useless herbivores that cower. Useless herbivores that try to crowd and act stronger than they are worth. They need order and discipline, something that is his family's job.

What Kyoya didn't understand was why was his father explaining the basics to the herbivores? Or rather, if he remembered the proper terms for the creatures that the hoodies were supposed to represent, the _pups_?

Kazuo returned Kyoya's miniscule nod with one of his own.

"The Hibari clan serves many positions in Japan, but in Namimori, we are the law enforcers. Order must be maintained in order for peace and prosperity to grow. Herbivores will die out without the protection and guidance of us carnivores, and with the herbivores gone, the ecosystem of Namimori will collapse." He nodded again, but much more visibly this time, as the twins listened with rapt -albeit still slightly confused- attention.

"What does this have to do with father and mother?" Mitsu asked, quietly, surprising his parents slightly by speaking first. Usually Aki would be bursting with questions, but the young child's brows were furrowed with thoughts.

Aki whispered, even quieter, "was the man from before a bad man?"

Katamori rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder, before giving Mitsu a nod. "What your mother and I are about to tell you must remain a secret," he said, with almost unprecedented seriousness. He has always left the more serious talks to his wife, but Miwa was right ( _she always is)_ , and the children cannot remain ignorant. "Our family is kind of like the Hibari's. We've had special jobs for a long time. The Hibaris protect Namimori." He paused, waiting for the twins to nod to show that they're still with him. "Us Taguchi, we deal with information."

Both twins frowned in mild confusion, only having heard the word in entirely different circumstances before. "Like the circular flyers," Aki mumbled, mostly to Mitsu.

However, Kyoya's eyes widened slightly as he looked back to his father. The realization dawned upon that his father wanted him here for a lesson. His father isn't here to just teach the herbivorous pups. He's also here to teach Kyoya on how to become Namimori's protector by showing him the metaphorical ropes.

"Yes, but not just information about our block. We deal with information on _everything_ and _everyone_ ," Miwa supplied, pinching Mitsu's scrunched nose fondly. "And people come to us to know things about other people and other things. We don't just tell anyone all the information, of course. They have to give us a good price in return. Sometimes it's more information we don't know, sometimes it's money. But because your father is so good at his job, sometimes bad people want to force him to tell them everything."

"Like the bad man," Mitsu clarified, looking to Katamori with a need for that confirmation. Katamori nodded.

"Like that man. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes I have to get rid of them or they would hurt you two and your mother."

The silence stretched for a moment afterwards as the twins stared hard at the map in front of their knees and occasionally at each other, before Aki pointed at Kazuo with one chubby finger. "What about the Mayor? Why is he here if you could'a just told us all this at home?" she asked, unaware of the level of critical thinking she just displayed, and also unaware of the slight disapproval in Kazuo's narrowed eyes. He does not appreciate being pointed at, by a small child or not.

Miwa lowered Aki's hand for her before she would get in trouble, but the child mistook the gesture as a silencing act of her totally justified question, and puffed out her cheeks.

"I think father and mother brought us here because Hibari-sama works with them," Mitsu answered, turning to his sister with his dark, thoughtful eyes. "I mean, if Hibari-sama punishes the bad guys like Batman does-"

Katamori had to stifle a chortle before he got himself killed.

"-then dad and mom are like the super cool Batcave computers with all the maps and numbers and things!" Aki finished, with way more excitement than her younger brother.

Suddenly, the look she viewed her parents with were even more awe-filled than before. Her parents are _secret superheroes_! That's all of Aki's dreams rolled into one, but _better_. "Does this mean we get to do it too when we're bigger? Can we be two Robins?" she begged, clearing watching too much of the American cartoons that Miwa's mother sends the kids.

Miwa smiled quietly to herself, before also pinching her daughter on the nose. "We will give you two lessons, but you don't have to make the decision until you're older, okay?"

"Your lives are still long," Katamori added. He doesn't say 'you're still young', because his daughter had just recently saw him murder a man in cold blood. Age has nothing to do with experience. They would know.

At that moment, Aki wondered what other secrets her parents weren't telling her and Mitsu yet. There is something she still doesn't understand in their eyes. Something sad, something sweet. She got up from her seat cushion abruptly, and tugged Mitsu along so they can engage in a family hug.

Kyoya sighed audibly. He did not sign up for this herbivorous nonsense. He thought his father was here to teach _him_ about his future role as Namimori's guardian. So the herbivores are informants. His father probably showed him this to let him know that they're not meant to be prey. He got it.

"So now what?" Kyoya bit out, refusing to acknowledge the almost indulgent look the mother not-herbivore gave him.

Kazuo smiled a smile that was too much steel.

"Now it's time for you cubs to grow some fangs."

* * *

Mitsu looked over to his sister. His young mind is only barely keeping up with the unexpected turns of events, and yet, looking into Aki's bright hickory eyes, the younger twin couldn't help but feel that they're getting signed-up for something a lot more dangerous than they fully realized.

Aki saw fear in every part of her little brother, and with the determination of being the _big sister_ and all, held Mitsu's hand while the adults talked with each other over schedules and something called 'training regime'.

Kyoya observed the twins with renewed interest.  
It's not often that his father would put time into other useless herbivores. This family, the Taguchi, must serve some purpose in Namimori's _greater good_. Since he is to become Namimori's protector one day as well, he will make sure these two young herbivores grow up to meet his standards.

Nevermind that he's only a year older, of course.


End file.
